House's Heart
by PerfectlyWeird333
Summary: Post Wilson's heart. House and Wilson haven't spoken in weeks and due to certain circumstances, Cuddy's niece has to stay in House's office for a week. House soon discovers something rather unusual about the girl. Better summary inside!
1. A Strange Surprise

**House's Heart**

**Summary:** Post Wilson's heart. House and Wilson haven't spoken in weeks and due to certain circumstances, Cuddy's niece has to stay in House's office for a week. House soon discovers something rather unusual about the girl and a friendship develops based on the common understanding of not being understood.

**Pairings:** HouseOC friendship, maybe Huddy later on. I'm not sure yet.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own House M.D. or any of it's characters, I only own the story line and the characters I have created myself.

**Author's note: **This story has been sitting in my head for years now and finally I've decided to write it down. There are still a few kinks I need to work out in the later plot but I wanted to at least get the first chapter out there. I'll try to update it as soon as possible, hopefully once a week, and intend to finish it before the end of this summer, or before season five starts. This is my first fan fiction by the way, or, first that I've actually written down. Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated! Enjoy!

**Chapter 1**

House awoke to the insufferable buzzing of his alarm clock. _9:19_ the clock read, and he hit the snooze button. He had experienced the strangest dream last night and gave himself a moment to recall it. It was extremely vivid, there was a colossal room. It felt like a cavern it was so big, so dark, and yet he could see everything only to realize that there was nothing. He was sitting, no, standing in the middle of it. He didn't have his cane, he didn't need it. There was no pain there, it was strange. The whole place was strange and yet in the middle of everything it felt so... familiar. He pictured to room again, the nothing, the no one. He was alone. He was always alone.

He rolled over and rubbed his leg, lately he had been more alone than usual. Wilson had not spoken to him in the weeks following Amber's death, he had been unusually quiet towards everyone but House he refused to talk to. House himself tried to apologize to him for what had happened, knowing he has partially responsible and hating himself for it. He was never good at anything of that nature, and hardly ever felt the need to apologize to most people. He felt it was worth a try, but Wilson wouldn't hear it. "Leave me alone," he said. Alone.

House rubbed his leg again and suddenly wished he was back in his dream. At least there was no pain there. He reached for the bottle of Vicodin on his nightstand and took one. He then grabbed his cane and limped off to face another day. He didn't feel much like breakfast this morning, and figured he would just snag something off of... _not anymore,_ he reminded himself and quickly pushed the thought from his mind, and decided to distract himself with getting dressed. He reached into his closet and pulled out the first few things he could get his hands on, which happened to be a white Queen shirt and a black suit jacket. He decided a longer sleeve shirt underneath might be a little too warm for today's weather, given that it was the second week of June. He then picked a pair of jeans up off his floor, tossed them on and left for work, not wanting to spend _too_ much time deciding what he would wear that day.

HHHHHHHH

Cuddy stood in the lobby, anxiously clicking her pen. She couldn't believe she was asking him this, that she actually ran _this low_ on resources. She wondered why this week, of all weeks had to be the one she took Alice. How was she even going to start this off? _"Hi House, you see, my sister-in-law travels a lot for her job and-"_ No. Too much explaining. He'd lose interest before she could even finish. A more blunt approach would do better, she thought.

Cuddy sighed, trying to get a grip, and watched the entrance doors. She wished there was another option but the girl just couldn't sit alone in her house all day, she needed a little human contact at least once in a while.

Suddenly she saw him. _"Oh God," _She thought to herself. She _really_ didn't want to have to do this, but she _really _had no choice. She took a deep breath, set the pen down on the counter and power-walked her way over to him. "House," she called to get his attention.

He kept walking.

"House!" she called, louder this time. There was no way he couldn't have heard her. She was pretty close now.

House kept walking.

She gave a huff, rolling her eyes. "House," she said, standing next to him now.

"Not interested." he said, and kept going. She followed along side him.

"House this is important, it's not about a patient I-"

"_Not interested_" he said again, as if to make himself clearer.

This was no use, she'd have to be blunt. Cuddy stopped in front of him now, "I need you to let my niece stay in your office."

He gave her the strangest look. The bluntness had worked, at least he'd stopped. "_What?_" he asked, looking at her as if she'd just spoken some alien tongue.

"You don't have to watch her, she's fifteen. Just let her stay in your office, she'll probably end up wandering off anyway I just need to give her a place she knows she can be."

He still looked confused. "Yes, but why does she have to come_ here_?" he asked, trying to make sense of this. "Can't she just sit at home in front of the TV all day on Myspace like any other teenager? Unless someone forgot to tell me about 'bring your daughter to work day' again. Of course that wouldn't even apply to you seeing that you have none, but even _I_ didn't think you'd resort to kidnapping."

She rolled her eyes. "Just listen," she said, and took a deep breath, "My sister-in-law travels a lot for work, usually it's just for a few days but this time it's for a week and she asked if I could give Alice a place to stay. Usually she's fine on her own but it's for a week and-"

"Doesn't she have a dad? You see, _most_ families-"

"They're divorced, he lives in Michigan."

"Then send her to Michigan."

Cuddy shook her head, he was so impossible. "House, I already said I'd let her stay with me, and she can't just sit alone in my house all day. I told her mom I'd let her come in with me, get out of the house, have some human contact for crying out loud."

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "And _why_ can't she stay in your office?"

"Because there's a health inspector coming this week, a board meeting on Wednesday, and if you hadn't pulled that stunt with Mrs. Jones I would have one less angry patient of yours storming in and out of my office, not that _one_ less would really even make that big of a difference, but the point is, there is way too much traffic in my office for her to be there. Any other week would have been better, I just wasn't anticipating all of this." she paused to breathe, "Honestly, do you think I just _want_ to come and ask you for this?"

He studied her, thinking. She was out of breath from explaining. "What's in it for me?" he asked.

"One week off clinic duty," she said, surprised he was even considering. She knew he'd push it further but she had to start somewhere.

"_A week?_" he asked. That was it? "Three weeks."

"House," Cuddy sighed, _three weeks?_ He had to be kidding. Realistically though she should have expected a month. She had no choice but to take his deal. As much as she hated to admit it, she was desperate, and he knew it. "Fine, three weeks." she said, giving him a look. "I'll go get her." she turned and headed for her office.

"Wait, she's _here_ already?" He turned around, sounding genuinely surprised for once, though it wasn't a pleasant surprise.

"Yeah, the health inspector doesn't come for another hour. She's in my office." Cuddy kept walking, House followed.

"Then keep her another hour."

"Oh no, I just gave you three weeks off clinic duty. She's yours now," she said, and kept walking.

**Authors Note:** Ok, so I probably could have gone on a bit more but it looked like a pretty good place to end the chapter. I promise I'll update soon! Read and review please!


	2. Alice

**Chapter 2**

Annoyed, House exited the elevator and limped down the hall towards his office. _This week just gets better and better,_ he thought sarcastically. What was Cuddy going to ask him to do next?

He passed the differential room and looked through the glass. No one was there. He figured they must be finishing up on the patient, since the case was solved yesterday, and entered his own office, finding it not quite so empty. _Damn that woman's fast!_ thought House, noticing the girl reclining in his cream colored chair. She looked up at him from the book she was reading.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," responded House after a few seconds, examining her. "You must be..." he'd forgotten her name already, "Cuddy's niece," he finished, "The cleavage is unmistakable, you could be twins!"

She smirked, rolling her eyes and returned her attention toward her book. House walked over to his desk and sat down, continuing to examine her. Ironically enough, she looked nothing like Cuddy despite what he'd said. She had a rounder face, a softer jawline. The same fair skin though. Her hair was a few shades lighter than Cuddy's, a hazelnut color, and was hardly curly at all. It was smooth in fact, and came down to about her mid-back. From what he could see, her eyes were some sort of grey, maybe hazelish color, but then again, he really couldn't tell and really didn't care.

She seemed quiet, but, then again what was there to say? Most teenagers don't just come with their aunts to work. It was unusual. There had to be something more to it, something behind it. Was she really that desperate to get out of the house? Did she really have _nowhere _else to be? No one else to see? He had a hunch that more than circumstances landed her here, and he was going to figure it out.

"Why are you here?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Alice looked up from her book. "My aunt didn't tell you?" her voice was crisp, clear.

"Nope." he lied.

She shut the book and peered at him from across the room as if he had to be kidding,"Yes she did, I know my aunt."

"Ok, so she did." he admitted. "And even if you did believe me I would have stopped you anyway. Believe me, it was bad enough hearing it the first time."

"Then why did you ask? Did you think she was lying?"

"No," he stated, "I wasn't asking about circumstances. What I was asking was why are you _here_ instead of someplace else. You see, most people your age would reject this idea. They have places to go, people to see, STDs to catch... or share, I guess that all depends."

He looked at her for a moment, when she did not object he continued.

"Now either you're intrigued this hospital's happenings or you have nothing else better to do with your time. Judging by your mother's enthusiasm for sending you here I'm guessing it's the second."

She shrugged, "I guess so."

He looked at her for moment, "Oh come on, you don't have anything else better to do than sit here and read about..." he squinted to see the title, _Napoleon: Emperor, Conqueror, Lover._ "Napoleon's love life?" he asked, sounding a bit surprised by her reading material. "Since when does that have any relevance in history? Either your teacher just likes wasting your time or-"

"It's not for school," she cut in.

"Figured," he said, glancing at the book again, "Seriously though, you don't have any friends you'd rather be spending time with?"

"I have a few," she said, dropping her gaze slightly.

"And they're not going to wonder where you went? Or more importantly, why you're _wasting your time_ at this hospital?"

"They know my mom travels a lot, they're used to it," said Alice, "We keep in touch."

"Right," he said, looking skeptical, "And you're sure you have nothing else better to do than sit here in my office?"

She nodded, "Yep."

_Why_? he wondered, there had to be a reason, but he figured he'd have time for more questions later. He was starting to feel the effect of missing breakfast. "Well, if that's the case," he said, reaching into his pocket, "go make yourself useful and get me a reuben. I'm sure Napoleon and his numerous affairs can wait." he held out a five dollar bill.

Alice, slightly surprised by the sudden command, got up and walked over to him, taking the money. "Dry, no fries, hold the pickles," he added just before letting go.

She gave him a confused look, "Who puts pickles on a rueben?"

"Terrible idea, isn't it? Now go." He motioned towards the door. Alice turned and headed in that direction opening it. She was about to leave when she stopped in the doorway, her hand still on the handle.

"Umm, I don't know where the-"

"You'll find it. Go," he said, and with that she took off.

**Author's note: ** So what is so special about Alice? Why does she have nothing better to do? What is her reason for being so lonely? All will be discovered in due time. Oh the suspense! Read and Review please!!


	3. Hiding

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took so long to update, this chapter is substantially longer than the other ones and I got a little preoccupied with other things. It's nice and long though, please read and review!!

**Chapter 3**

House sat alone at his desk, pondering to himself for the first time in weeks about something other than Wilson and work, though he knew the first would always be in the back of his mind somewhere. He needed a distraction, and this girl, whatever her name was, seemed to do the trick. Unfortunately his thoughts were soon interrupted by the opening of a door. It was Foreman.

"The patient was just released, she seems to be doing ok," he said, sticking his head in the doorway.

House looked up at him, "Excellent," he said with little enthusiasm.

Foreman looked back over his shoulder and entered the room, he seemed puzzled by something. "Who was that girl?" he asked, "The one that just came out of here?"

House wished he hadn't seen her but luck apparently wasn't on his side today. "Funny thing, that girl. Thinks I'm her father. I told her I wasn't but she just wouldn't listen! Do you ever have that problem? I swear this must be the third one I've gotten this month!"

Foreman rolled his eyes, he knew he wouldn't get a straight answer. Why he even bothered asking seemed sort of silly.

House tapped his came on the floor, studying him. Foreman couldn't have just come in here to tell him his patient is fine or else he wouldn't still be standing here. "There's something else isn't there?"

Foreman nodded, "Yeah, Cuddy told me she has another patient she thinks you should check out, she wants you to see her right away."

House rolled his eyes, he was _not_ in the mood. "Tell her I'm busy."

"With what?"

"With my... other patient."

Foreman gave him an unconvinced look, "Yeah, right," he said, "Come on, what else are you gonna do all day, _nothing_?"

House paused, taking a moment to look like he was thinking real hard, "Yeah."

Foreman rolled his eyes again, fed up. "Whatever, Cuddy's gonna be looking for you though," he said, turning to leave, "I have to get to the clinic."

House gave a little chuckle after Foreman left. He knew those three weeks of clinic duty had to go _somewhere_. Foreman was right though, Cuddy _would_ come looking for him after a certain amount of time. He couldn't just stay in his office, that would be much too easy for her to find him. He was going to have to find someplace else to hide, but not without getting his rueben first.

HHHHHHHH

Wilson sat at his desk, his head rested on his hand as he flipped through files. The weeks had been tough since Amber's death. It was if he would never feel the same again, he would never feel complete again. She was one in a billion to him, and he knew very well the odds of winning the lottery twice. How long had he known her, months? Why couldn't it be that simple to go back to the way things were before he met her? He knew he couldn't. Were things really that different now? He knew they were, he couldn't go back. Not once he felt what he could have had, what he _did_ have. And now that he lost it he could feel nothing but the gaping hole it left behind.

Trying his best to distract himself from these thoughts he got up out of his chair, closing the file, and headed out toward the cafeteria. He had forgotten to snag something on his way to work and was getting hungry. He'd noticed he'd been a bit more forgetful than usual.

When he stepped into the cafeteria, he took out his wallet and got in line behind a girl with hazelnut hair. He never took much notice in new faces, there were new faces every day, and he would not have taken any more notice in hers if it wasn't for what she ordered.

The girl hardly looked at the menu before ordering "a dry rueben with no pickles or fries." Wilson did a double take, which must have been seen by the girl causing her to glance back, returning him with a strange look. Wilson looked back at the menu, watching her out of the courner of his eye. There was only one person he knew who liked his sandwich like that, a person who he _especially _didn't want to think about.

Alice payed for the rueben and left the lunch line. She was a good few yards away when she glanced back at the man, a doctor due to the lab coat, who was now looking a little puzzled. She walked out into the lobby, searching for the elevator when a voice caused her to stop in her tracks.

"Hey, you!" called the voice from somewhere down the hall. Alice looked up to find House making his way towards her. "Yeah, you, with the rueben," he said, closer now.

"It's Alice,"

"Whatever. Come on, we gotta go," he turned around, expecting her to follow him.

"Where? Why?"

"Don't know yet," he said, "But I sure as hell wasn't gonna leave without my rueben."

She walked along side him now, moving quickly. "You don't know why?"

"No, I don't know _where_," he said, nearing the elevator. Where could he go? He considered his options. Coma guy's room? No, too obvious, she'd check there second. Roof? Good spot, but not enough to do. Clinic? No, all the exam rooms would have other doctors in them. The staff lounge seemed like his best bet. He usually went there with Wilson, but since they no longer spoke Cuddy would think it less likely he would be there, and may be the last place she'd check. He pressed the elevator button, second floor.

From inside the elevator Alice watched him out of the corner of her eye. He had his sandwich, why was he taking her? However odd it seemed she couldn't complain. It was something to do and she had company, a rare occurrence.

They stepped out of the elevator, House picked up the pace. "So... do you know where we're going _now_?" asked Alice. He walked pretty fast for using a cane.

House said nothing, just kept walking. It was another minute before he opened a door, revealing a room equip with leather sofas, a flat screen TV, some coffee machines, and a foosball table. House hung his cane on the edge of the foosball table and leaned against the back of the couch. He then unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite. He'd feed his curiosity after he was done feeding himself.

Alice sat down sideways in one of the metal chairs and watched him eat. "So... you brought be here to watch you eat a sandwich?" she said after about a minute.

"There's a TV," he said, his mouth half-full. _Duh._

Alice sighed and shifted in her chair, she wasn't in the mood. He'd be finished with his sandwich soon enough anyway.

When House was finished he shoved the last bit into his mouth and tossed the wrapping in the trash. He eyed the foosball table. "Wanna play?" he motioned towards it.

Alice shrugged, getting up from her chair. She rested her hands on the handles of the foosball table.

House dropped the ball in center, it roller her direction and she whacked it toward his defense. He defended, but it didn't get past her offense before coming right back at him. the game continued, back and forth. House wondered what he should ask her, what did he want to know most? He have the ball another whack with his offense, and scored a goal this time, the ball just slipping past her defense. House put a point up for himself and reached under the table to get another ball.

"So," he started, dropping the ball in the center, "Why no friends?"

Alice looked up at him, trying not to take her attention away from the table long enough for him to score. "I told already, I have a few." she answered, slightly annoyed.

"No you don't," he said, "You wouldn't be here if you had friends. Friends would mean you have a social life, meaning you could afford a week alone. The fact that your mom says you _couldn't_ says you don't."

She glanced up at him, then diverted her her attention back to the table. Why did he care? He was very observant, very curious about her for not wanting anything to do with her initially. "Something wrong with that?"

He waited a few seconds before answering, "No."

"So then it's normal?"

"No," he said, making a goal. "There has to be a reason though."

She watched him for a moment, letting go of the foosball handles. "Maybe I just don't like people," she said finally. Plain and simple.

He studied her a few beats, "Why not?" he asked, leaving the ball in the goal.

"Why does it matter?"

"It does."

She glanced at the goal, frowning slightly. He wasn't going to play until she answered. "I've never been a people person," she said, looking away. She fiddled with the foosball handles. "I just... can't relate to people. I don't know... I mean, I know but..." she paused a beat to think, "They're all so... uninteresting to me, and I suppose I'm weird to them. I've just never fit in, it's as simple as that." she reached under the table and grabbed the ball, dropping it in center again. They resumed playing.

It was never simple. If she didn't fit in there was a reason she didn't fit in. There was always a reason, he thought.

"Do you like people?" she started again, taking a shot at his goal.

"No," he said deflecting the shot.

"Do_ you_ have friends?"

He stopped and looked up at her, letting the ball escape into his goal. "Yeah," he said finally and turned the spotlight back on her, "Have you _ever_ had friends?"

"Of course I have, they just don't keep for very long," she said, picking up the ball again. She fiddled with it, tapping it on the table. "So why are we here again?" apparently she didn't like the spotlight either.

"Hiding from Cuddy, it's routine," he figured he might as well tell her, "You get to play watchdog this time."

Alice rolled her eyes. _Wonderful._ "So... is there a reason you're hiding? I mean, I would think things would be pretty fine between you two with you having three weeks off clinic duty."

"Of course they would," he said, "if she wasn't coming to pester me about a case I don't want to take. Relax, they're usually just generous donators."

She watched him for a moment, "Well... you don't seem to have anything else to do."

"Well look at that, oh, hey wait a minute... neither do you!" he said, a look of shock on his face, "Go play lookout." he motioned towards the door.

HHHHHHHHH

Alice sighed and reluctantly left the room. She walked a few feet outside the door and looked around the corner, checking for her aunt. She didn't seem to be anywhere near there, and Alice continued on down the long hallway. She walked slowly, taking in her surroundings, and more importantly making sure her aunt wasn't nearing the lounge. Lucky for House she was no tattle tale. As she walked she examined the building itself. She had never seen a hospital quite like this one, the glass walls were an interesting touch. The people looked no different though, patients, doctors, loved ones, people waiting in the hall, patients sleeping in their rooms. And suddenly she passed someone she knew, or recognized at least. It was the doctor from the cafeteria. He looked up from the file he was reading, he seemed to notice her pass. She kept walking, perhaps it was a coincidence he looked up, but she couldn't help it, she had to look back.

The doctor was still watching her, a puzzled look upon his face. Surely he saw new faces all the time, this _was_ a hospital after all. People came and went. Why did he choose to watch_ her_? Why did he seem to think she was any different?

Their eyes met. And in that split second that seemed to last forever she noticed there was something else. Something else in his expression that she hadn't noticed before. _Concern_ almost.

She turned forward again, walking towards the drinking fountain, pretending like she didn't see him. She took a drink of water and glanced back again, letting curiosity be her ruler once more. Not to her surprise, he had left.

HHHHHHHHH

Alice sat on the couch, trying to make sense of why a doctor who apparently didn't like people could be so interested in a soap opera like General Hospital. After hours of playing lookout and running petty little errands for House she decided she deserved to watch a little TV, though this was obviously not what she had in mind. "How do _enjoy_ watching this?" she asked.

House looked at her, shocked. "How can you _not_?"

She shook her head, smiling. Despite all of the tedious errands he'd sent her on the day actually hadn't been as bad, and certainly not as boring as she thought it would be. The errands at least gave her something to do, ridiculous as some of them were (namely fetching him the juicy details of latest episode of The L Word on DVD from one of the nurses who watched it) she had something to do and more importantly, she had company.

Alice glanced over at House, examining him. he never did say _why_ he didn't like people. She thought to ask but figured she should probably wait until the commercials. She studied his eyes, they were very blue, almost..._comforting _to look at, which was strange for a man who tended to be everything but. She wondered why.

Suddenly she heard the door open behind them, causing them turned around. It was Cuddy.

"_House!_ I thought I told you to-" she paused mid sentence noticing he was not the only one in the room, "oh, hi Alice," she said, trying to make sense of this. If she could recall, it was House's intention _not_ to have to babysit. "House, this is...um, unexpected..." she said, forgetting for a second the real reason why she came in here.

House said nothing, he looked as if he were waiting for her to continue.

She held up a file, "I have a patient for you," she said, "Actually, I've _had_ a patient for you since this morning but apparently you had better things to do."

House slowly got up from the couch and walked over to her, grabbing the file. He looked it over.

"Patient presents with liver failure, respiratory problems , fatigue, and itchy skin,"

House looked up at her from the file, "I can read," he said, and read the file again, "He's a smoker,"

"Yes, but th-"

"That explains the respiratory problems and fatigue. And if he's a smoker, there's a good chance he's a drinker too." he handed her back the file.

"His blood alcohol level was normal and his wife says he isn't a heavy drinker,"

House gave her a look, "Oh come on, do I have to say it?"

"His stool was pale."

House looked at her a moment, "How pale?" he was curious.

Cuddy was at a loss for description, "I don't know, I didn't see it they just said it was pale!"

"And you're gonna take his word for it?" he asked, grabbing the file, "Keep him over night till you can have a look at it yourself, then call me," he then pushed open the door and left.

HHHHHHHHH

Cuddy walked through the parking lot, Alice at her side. She still couldn't get over the fact that House had kept her company. Even for as long as she'd known him, the man continued to surprise her. "So, how was your day?"Cuddy asked, unlocking the car.

Alice opened the door and hopped in the car. "Actually... it was pretty alright." she said.

Cuddy started the engine, "Alright as in _good_?" she asked, a little surprised.

Alice thought for hardly a moment, "Yeah," she said

Cuddy turned to look behind her, backing out of the parking space. "So, what did you do all day?" she asked, curious.

"Eh, a bunch of stupid errands mostly. Dr. House and I played a little foosball, and watched some General Hospital, which I honestly would have never guessed he'd be into, or the L word." she replied.

Cuddy chuckled, and watched the road as she drove on. She glanced over at Alice who looked strangely... content. It was weird seeing her like this, and more impressively getting along with another human being, or at least from what she could tell. Ever since she could remember Alice had been a bit of a recluse. A pretty little recluse, but a recluse none the less.

She wondered why House chose to stay with her, other than to use her as a slave for tedious errands. He must have found her somewhat interesting. The car was quiet, nothing but the hum of the engine. She glanced at Alice again, so strangely content. Could someone who emits that much negativity really have a positive effect on someone? Only time could tell.

**Author's Note**: Ok, I promise what's so special about Alice will come up in the next chapter, reviews very much appreciated!


	4. Unusual

Update! Update! At last! Yeah, so lately I've been pretty busy, but as promised here is the next chapter, and the revealing of what on Earth is so special about Alice. Hopefully it hasn't been so long that you've forgotten what on Earth is going on in this story, lol. Reviews much appreciated as usual, and I thank those of you who have reviewed so far!

**Chapter 4**

House's team looked up as he entered the differential room. "New patient," he said, tossing files at them. He limped over to the white board, hanging his cane on the top. "Patient presents with liver failure, fatigue, respiratory problems, skin irritation, and stool the color of sun-damaged cardboard," he began, writing the symptoms on the board.

Taub crinkled his eyebrows, looking the file over again. "Says he smokes at least eight a day-"

"The trouble breathing didn't start until a few weeks ago, around the same time as some of the other symptoms did." Foreman interrupted.

"It doesn't mean they're related, it could just be a coincidence. I mean, if you smoke like that for 20 years you would think it would have happened by now." Kutner added.

House took the marker to the board again, "So, what other than smoking," he capped the marker, "triggers respiratory problems ."

Kutner was baffled. "Oh come on, you're honestly going to believe that his problem was caused by something _other_ than smoking?"

"Either that or smoking could be what's causing all his other problems," Taub suggested.

House scoffed, "As if I hadn't thought of that..."

"Well it explains the fatigue-"

"But nothing else." House concluded, and looked over at Thirteen who had said nothing so far. She appeared to be distracted by something. On the other side of the glass, a girl was resting comfortably in House's cream recliner. She appeared to be examining one of the ceramic head models in his office, picking it up and turning it over curiously. In the momentary silence the rest of the team seemed to notice it too.

"Who's she?" Kutner spoke, breaking the silence. Foreman raised an eyebrow and looked at House, hoping to find a real answer this time.

"Nobody," House said quickly, turning back to the white board. They weren't about to just shrug it off, he knew it was a long shot. Intrigued by the new face behind the glass, they kept watching. House sighed, rolling his eyes and walked over to the window. He shut the blinds, thoroughly annoyed, and stalked back to the white board. "Ok, what else?" he turned to his team, who in turn did nothing but give him curious looks. Thirteen spoke finally,

"So... you're not gonna tell us?" the rest wondered the same, equally eager for an answer.

"Nope," he said, "_she's _not dying, unlike how this chimney will if we don't figure out what's _wrong_ with him." Still no response.

Kutner got a wise look, as if he had an idea, and sat back in his chair. "Well, I'm just gonna sit here 'till you tell us." Through glances the others seemed to come to a consensus and did likewise.

House stood there and looked at them, deeply annoyed. "Very mature," he said, pulling up a chair. This was going to take a while. He checked his watch and sat patiently. He was the _king_ of maturity.

The minutes passed, House tapped his fingers on the table. "Oh, come on, this is ridiculous," said Foreman, finally, "Will you just tell us so that we can move on with our lives?"

House was not about to give in, unfortunately the team had made the mistake of challenging his stubbornness. He wondered how much longer he would have to sit here before one of them cracked. Foreman looked annoyed, but no where near cracking. "Okay, first one to say something medically relevant gets 20 bucks," more glances, no one answered. House rolled his eyes, sighing. "30 bucks," nothing, "40," still nothing. They knew they had him, they knew he knew, and the knew he hated it. With a loathing glance, House spoke.

"Cuddy's niece," he started, "She's at this hospital because she has no life and she's in my office because Cuddy has no life." The team looked at one another, oddly surprised. Then again, they really didn't know what they were expecting.

"Primary biliary cirrhosis" suggested Thirteen, "explains the skin, fatigue, jaundice, stool-"

"But not the lungs,"

"I'm going with Kutner on this one," she said, "It's the smoking."

House glanced around the room, nobody seemed to object. "Okay, biopsy the liver to confirm and get a scan of his lungs."

The team got up and shuffled out of the room, slightly surprised by how easily House accepted Thirteen's theory.

House pushed the door open to his office. Alice had moved from her position on the recliner to the seat behind his desk and seemed to have developed an interest in the numerous medical books on his shelf. She looked up at him with utmost attention, as if waiting for him to say something. He sighed and said nothing.

Alice held up a book and looked at him through the large rectangle cut into the center of the pages. "Do you do this to a lot of your books?"

House limped over to her, "Give me that," he said, taking the book. "Move."

She got up out of his chair and stepped aside. He took his iPod from a drawer within his desk and turned to leave. "Where are you going?"

"Doctor stuff," he lied, "Don't touch anything." He headed toward the door, annoyed with himself for giving into his team and annoyed with her for... well, existing.

HHHHHHHH

Christine Archer held the phone up to her ear, looking out the window. It was a beautiful view, not a parking lot in sight, and in the early afternoon the sun seemed to dance on the leaves of the trees below. She payed attention to none of it. "Yes, room 276," she affirmed, "Princeton Plainsburo Teaching Hospital, just take him straight here," a pause, "Ok, I'll let him know," she said, turning to glance at her husband, "Alright, you too," She closed the phone and turned, "My sister said she would take Donnie over, I sent him a message so he knows what's going on,"

Her husband let out a dry laugh, "You know he's not allowed to text during school, right?"

Christine folded her arms, "You think that's gonna keep him from doing it?"

"He's gonna get that thing confiscated,"

Christine rolled her eyes, "Probably," she admitted, "He's really not the most covert." As she walked over to sit by her husband she doors slid open, revealing two young doctors.

"Are you Dr. House?" asked the man in the bed.

"No, I'm Dr. Kutner, I work for him." he said.

Thirteen spoke up, "We discussed your case with him and we think it might be Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, it's cause is unknown but the disease can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver."

The woman crinkled her eyebrows, "But... don't women only get that?"

"Not necessarily, about 90 of documented cases were women, so there is still a chance your husband could have it. Most of his symptoms fit."

"Most?"

Kutner cut in, "We think the respiratory problems are just an effect of the smoking, but we're going to have to do a biopsy of his liver to be sure, and get a few scans of his lungs."

Mrs. Archer frowned, looking at her husband, "See? I told you, you really need to quit, Alan." He said nothing, rolling his eyes, and Kurtner continued.

"PBC can be fatal in its later stages, but with a liver transplant you should be ok. We just need you to sign this form so we can do the biopsy to confirm it." he held out the clipboard.

Mr. Archer shifted under the covers, scratching his ribs. "My side really itches, is that part it?" Thirteen walked over to get a better look,

"Yeah, it is. Let me have a look at it." As he opened up the front of his hospital gown, she had an apparent rash, and more importantly a large bruise just below his ribs. "This isn't. The good thing is, it's not PBC. You're bleeding."

HHHHHHHH

House entered the differential room and walked over to the coffee machine. The room was empty, quiet. He limped over to the corner, reached for a mug, and flipped the lever, letting the machine do its job. As he ripped open a packet of sugar, however, he could have sworn he heard something else other than the soft gurgle of the coffee machine. He stopped, listening in. Was that... _music_ he heard? He concentrated harder on the noise, still frozen in place. It sounded as though it was coming from his office next door. Unfreezing, he sighed, emptying the contents of the sugar packet into his coffee. The little Cuddy must have discovered his iTunes. He listened closer. The tune sounded strangely unfamiliar, a piano piece no doubt, one he must have downloaded and never got around to listening to. He tried to place the composer. Chopin? The piece seemed to have a Russian edge to it, maybe Borodin. It was fairly slow, moving almost, and complicated in structure. Whatever it was, the girl _did_ have a good taste in music, he'd give her that.

Picking up his coffee he limped over to the door conjoining the two rooms and pushed it open with his shoulder. "I thought I told you not to-" he stopped, frozen by shock. He could not believe what he was seeing.

She wasn't listening she was... _playing_. Apparently he'd forgotten to take his roll-out keyboard home from the last time he used it, which would explain the electronic undertones to this otherwise beautiful piece.

He stood there, watching her. He had never seen anything like this since... well, his own patient. The piano savant who had fascinated him over a year ago, and walked out with only half his brain. Perhaps she wasn't a savant, he admitted, but she was very good, better than he himself could ever imagine being.

Her fingers moved quickly across the keys as the tempo picked up, the movements complex even for a professional. It looked so... _unnatural_. At a glance you would think she'd be perfectly normal and yet _this_... this was not normal at all. This answered his question, the reason why she was so alone. How could she relate to anyone? How could anyone relate to _this_?

The song neared its end and House took a few more steps inside the room. She turned around, as if knowing he'd been there the whole time. "Sorry," she said, glancing at the keyboard.

"No you're not," he said, but that didn't matter. Unless of course she was sorry for playing a such beautiful piece on a crappy keyboard. House walked toward his desk and pulled up a chair, sitting beside her now. He wanted to see what makes her tick, what makes her work, what she was capable of. Suddenly the day had become far more interesting. "Turn around," he told her. She did, though hesitantly. He played a note, "What's this?"

"G"

"This?" he played another.

"D sharp," she answered.

He played a chord this time.

"C major,"

Another.

"F minor,"

This time House slammed his hand on a random jumble of keys, creating a rather unpleasant noise.

"B... D, D sharp... F?" she turned around, "What's the point of this?"

House sat silently for a moment, glancing over the keyboard. "I once had a patient, a piano savant due to an accident," he started, "Of course, he couldn't button his shirt, but somehow the accident caused him to be re-wired as the piano specialist."

Alice shifted in her seat, intrigued.

"You on the other hand," he continued, "seem just fine."

She diverted her gaze, as if troubled by something, and looked back at him. "You really think so?"

He studied her, thinking. "Depends on what you mean."

HHHHHHHH

So there we have it, two geniuses at PPTH. The chemistry will be quite interesting. Yes, I did some research for the differential part, and though it may have been a little boring it was necessary, the patient had to be introduced somehow, lol. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, reviews, comments, constructive criticism all welcome!


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